transport: List of incidents of cannibalism

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

This is a list of incidents of cannibalism, or anthropophagy, the consumption of human flesh or internal organs by other human beings. Evidence of human cannibalism dates back as far as prehistoric times, and some anthropologists suggest that cannibalism was common in human societies as early as the Paleolithic. Historically, various peoples and groups have engaged in cannibalism, although very few continue the practice to this day. Occasionally, starving people have resorted to cannibalism for survival. Classical antiquity recorded numerous references to cannibalism during siege-related famines. More recent well-documented examples include the Essex sinking in 1820, the Donner Party in 184…

Evidence: 54 • authority: 72

Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe animals consuming parts of individuals of the same species as food. Anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals, and Homo antecessor are known to have practised cannibalism to some extent in the Pleistocene. Cannibalism was occasionally practised in Egypt during ancient and Roman times, as well as later during severe famines. The Island Caribs of the Lesser Antilles, whose name is the origin of the word cannibal, acquired a long-standing reputation as eaters…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Acts of cannibalism in Africa have been reported from various parts of the continent, ranging from prehistory until the 21st century. The oldest firm evidence of archaic humans consuming each other dates to 1.45 million years ago in Kenya. Archaeological evidence for human cannibalism exists later among anatomically modern humans, but its frequency remains unknown. Later in East Africa, the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was reputed to practise cannibalism, and acts of voluntary and forced cannibalism have been reported from the South Sudanese Civil War. While the oldest known written mention of cannibalism is from the tomb of the Egyptian king Unas, later evidence from Egypt shows it to only re…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Acts of cannibalism in Asia have been reported from various parts of the continent, ranging from ancient history to the 21st century. Human cannibalism is particularly well documented for China and for islands that today belong to Indonesia. The history of cannibalism in China is multifaceted, spanning from cases motivated by food scarcity during famines and wars to culturally accepted practices motivated by vengeance, medical beliefs, and even culinary pleasure. Records from China's Twenty-Four Histories document over three hundred episodes of cannibalism, many of them seen as an inevitable means of avoiding starvation. Cannibalism was also employed as a form of vengeance, with individuals…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Child cannibalism or fetal cannibalism is the act of eating a child or fetus. Children who are eaten or at risk of being eaten are a recurrent topic in myths, legends, and folktales from many parts of the world. False accusations of the murder and consumption of children were made repeatedly against minorities and groups considered suspicious, especially against Jews as part of blood libel accusations. Actual cases of child cannibalism have been documented, especially during severe famines in various parts of the world. Cannibalism sometimes also followed infanticide, the killing of unwanted infants. In several societies that recognized slavery, enslaved children were at risk of being kille…

Evidence: — • authority: 88

Cannibalism. Abstract Cannibalism is a fraught topic, not least because an abundance of partial and unreliable literary evidence from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean stands against very little archaeological evidence, leaving the entire issue a matter of contention. In general, in classical Antiquity the idea itself was abhorrent and considered to be “uncivilized,” largely used as a rhetorical device to characterize the Other. Consequently, ancient authors associated cannibalism with symbolic or ritual behavior in conceptually mythical times, or with contemporaneous foreign peoples. It is possible, however, that in extreme social circumstances cannibalism may even have been practice…

Evidence: — • authority: 88

Cannibalism. Abstract The archaeological and literary evidence from antiquity for human cannibalism (anthropophagy, the consumption of the flesh of other humans) suggests varying practices and attitudes. Despite many references to cannibalism in surviving writings, archaeological evidence from antiquity remains slim. Although archaeological work has provided sporadic indications of ritualistic cannibalism over the millennia, such scarce physical evidence is viewed as indecisive, especially because of both its rarity and the derogatory views of cannibalism expressed in ancient texts.

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is typically intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/priestly figure, spirits of dead ancestors, or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein a monarch's servants are killed in order for them to continue to serve their master in the next life. Closely related practices found in some tribal societies are cannibalism and headhunting. Human sacrifice is also known as ritual murder. Human sacrifice was practiced in many societies, beginning in prehistoric times. By the Iron Age (1st millennium BCE), with the associated develop…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Acts of cannibalism in Europe seem to have been relatively prevalent in prehistory but also occurred repeatedly in later times, often motivated by hunger, hatred, or medical concerns. Both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals practised cannibalism to some extent in the Pleistocene, and Neanderthals may have been eaten by modern humans as the latter spread into Europe. Amongst humans in prehistoric Europe, archaeologists have uncovered many clear and indisputable sites of cannibalism, as well as numerous other finds of which cannibalism is a plausible interpretation. In antiquity, several Greek and Roman authors mentioned cannibal customs in remote parts of the continent, such as beyo…